The aroma of this beer is quite muted, but there are hints of vanilla, roasted malts, and herbal hops, and the color is a cloudy golden yellow with a prominent white head that dissipates quickly. Once sipped, this beer is of a medium bitterness and a light sweetness, but the lively carbonation makes for an earthy tasting beer. The finish is slightly bitter, and the medium body is quite nice.

Oh, hey, a craft ESB. Haven’t seen one of these on the shelves at a decent price or in a mix pack for a long time- not since Sierra Nevada ditched their ESB. Had an import non-craft ESB at a gathering, and it wasn’t the same- the base was there, but not the springy piney hops. Magic Hat’s take on an ESB has the base, and some spring piney type hops on top (Not a ton of them, but enough to be noticeable and evoke spring), plus real honest to goodness spruce from, presumably, trees. Spruce! I love it.
Not saying this is the best beer ever or anything, but I was excited to see the style in their winter mix pack, because the style just isn’t available from widely distributed reasonably priced craft brewers anymore, typically. Wouldn’t mind seeing it in it’s own 6-pack, even! And, hey- spruce!
I think of these as being spring beers, but I’ll take it in a winter mix pack. The spring mix packs come out in winter now anyway, so what’s the difference, really? Drinking it in late fall out of a winter mix pack feels more like spring than drinking it January out of a spring mix pack.

Alright, I got this one as part Magic Hat’s 2012 Winter Variety 12 pack, and was surprised its label as an "ESB with SPRUCE". Well, it poured a grainy smelling amber brew that had a fine bubbled head of white foam, with good lacing. Tastewise, I find the hops and spruce presenting an interesting combo upfront, balancing well with the malts into a "grassy" flavor.

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